Another year of UFC action is upon us, as fans anticipate Conor McGregor’s long-awaited return to the Octagon as well as some major title fights.
McGregor, who remains the face of the sport, has not competed since breaking his leg in July 2021 but is due to fight Michael Chandler this summer, though new stars have emerged elsewhere and will help to keep audiences engaged.
In one of the biggest fights of 2023, recently crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will defend his title against featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, with the pair scheduled to meet on the latter’s home turf in Australia in February. Furthermore, former pound-for-pound No 1 Kamaru Usman will try to regain the welterweight title from Leon Edwards, who dethroned the Nigerian-American with a stunning knockout in August 2022. The pair’s rematch – their third clash, in fact – is set to headline March’s London card, after Edwards’ title triumph made him just the second British UFC champion ever.
And we will finally see light-heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Jon Jones move up to heavyweight, as he fights Ciryl Gane for the championship vacated by Francis Ngannou, who has now left the UFC.
Here is every fight and event announced by the mixed martial arts promotion for the coming weeks and months (cards subject to change):
Saturday 11 February – UFC 284 – RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Main card
Islam Makhachev (C) vs Alexander Volkanovski (featherweight champion) (lightweight title)
Yair Rodriguez vs Josh Emmett (interim featherweight title)
Jack Della Maddalena vs Randy Brown (welterweight)
Justin Tafa vs Parker Porter (heavyweight)
Jimmy Crute vs Alonzo Menifield (light-heavyweight)
Prelims
Tyson Pedro vs Modestas Bukauskas (light-heavyweight)
Josh Culibao vs Melsik Baghdasaryan (featherweight)
Shannon Ross vs Kleydson Rodrigues (flyweight)
Jack Jenkins vs Don Shainis (featherweight)
Jamie Mullarkey vs Francisco Prado (lightweight)
Early prelims
Jack Jenkins vs Don Shainis (featherweight)
Loma Lookboonmee vs Elise Reed (women’s strawweight)
Shane Young vs Blake Bilder (featherweight)
Zubaira Tukhugov vs Elves Brenner (lightweight)
Saturday 18 February – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Main card
Taila Santos vs Erin Blanchfield (women’s flyweight)
Prelims
Joe Solecki vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight)
Lina Lansberg vs Mayra Bueno Silva (women’s bantamweight)
Ramiz Brahimaj vs Carlston Harris (welterweight)
Ovince Saint Preux vs Philipe Lins (light-heavyweight)
Saturday 25 February – UFC Fight Night – UFC Apex, Las Vegas, US
Main card
Nikita Krylov vs Ryan Spann (light-heavyweight)
Andre Fili vs Lucas Almeida (featherweight)
Augusto Sakai vs Don’Tale Mayes (heavyweight)
Tatiana Suarez vs Montana De La Rosa (women’s flyweight)
Mike Malott vs Yohan Lainesse (welterweight)
Andre Muniz vs Brendan Allen (middleweight)
Prelims
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs Gabriella Fernandes (women’s flyweight)
Rafael Alves vs Narullo Aliev (featherweight)
Saturday 4 March – UFC 285 – T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, US
Main card
Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane (vacant heavyweight title)
Valentina Shevchenko (C) vs Alexa Grasso (women’s flyweight title)
Dan Hooker vs Jalin Turner (lightweight)
Geoff Neal vs Shavkat Rakhmonov (welterweight)
Bo Nickal vs Jamie Pickett (middleweight)
Derek Brunson vs Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight)
Prelims
Ian Machado Garry vs Song Kenan (welterweight)
Cody Garbrandt vs Julio Arce (bantamweight)
Viviane Araujo vs Amanda Ribas (women’s flyweight)
Juulian Marquez vs Marc-Andre Barriault (middleweight)
Jessica Penne vs Tabatha Ricci (women’s strawweight)
Da’Mon Blackshear vs Farid Basharat (bantamweight)
Kamuela Kirk vs Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)
Saturday 11 March – UFC Fight Night – The Theater, Las Vegas, US
Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili (bantamweight)
Alexander Volkov vs Alexandr Romanov (heavyweight)
Ricardo Ramos vs Austin Lingo (featherweight)
Raphael Assuncao vs Kyler Phillips (bantamweight)
Vitor Petrino vs Anton Turkalj (light-heavyweight)
Karl Williams vs Lukasz Brzeski (heavyweight)
Mario Bautista vs Guido Cannetti (bantamweight)
Said Nurmagomedov vs Jonathan Martinez (bantamweight)
Victory Henry vs Tony Gravely (bantamweight)
Sedriques Dumas vs Abu Azaitar (middleweight)
Ariane Lipski vs JJ Aldrich (women’s flyweight)
Tyson Nam vs Bruno Silva (flyweight)
Saturday 18 March – UFC 286 – O2 Arena, London, UK
Leon Edwards (C) vs Kamaru Usman 3 (welterweight title)
Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev (lightweight)
Gunnar Nelson vs Daniel Rodriguez (welterweight)
Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze (middleweight)
Jack Shore vs Makwan Amirkhani (featherweight)
Sam Patterson vs Yanal Ashmoz (lightweight)
Muhammad Mokaev vs Jafel Filho (flyweight)
Jai Herbert vs Ludovit Klein (lightweight)
Nathaniel Wood vs Lerone Murphy (featherweight)
Christian Leroy Duncan vs Dusko Todorovic (middleweight)
Joanne Wood vs Luana Carolina (women’s flyweight)
Jake Hadley vs Malcolm Gordon (flyweight)
Juliana Miller vs Veronica Macedo (women’s flyweight)
Saturday 25 March – UFC Fight Night – AT&T Center, San Antonio, US
Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen (bantamweight)
Saturday 8 April – UFC 287 – TBC
Alex Pereira (C) vs Israel Adesanya 2 (middleweight title)
Gilbert Burns vs Jorge Masvidal (welterweight)
Kevin Holland vs Santiago Ponzinibbio (welterweight)
Raul Rosas Jr vs Christian Rodriguez (bantamweight)
Rob Font vs Adrian Yanez (bantamweight)
Gerald Meerschaert vs Joe Pyfer (middleweight)
